Deep Text: Facebook's Ambitious PlanÂ to Make the Internet Smarter

Facebook already knows a lot about you–just look at the people in your “suggested friends” section or the carefully selected advertisements that seem to correlate pretty nicely with your recent browsing history. But the social network wants to get a whole lot smarter. That’s according to a blog post on Wednesday announcing Deep Text, an artificial intelligence system that Facebook says can understand text at near-human levels of accuracy. The goal is to go beyond merely recognizing keywords–Deep Text will actually understand what the post means. Facebook is already testing the technology for some users. If Facebook Messenger notices you messaging a friend about needing a ride, for example, it’ll pull up a “Request a Ride” button offering an Uber or a Lyft. But it’s not as simple as detecting the word “ride” or “taxi.” A brief demonstration video in the…